The present invention relates to a bearing member in a keyboard instrument provided with an action mechanism which includes a plurality of action members pivoting in accordance with key-depressing operations and a supporting member pivotally supporting the action members, the bearing member supporting the action members in a rotatable manner.
Conventionally, an action mechanism in a keyboard instrument is configured such that a plurality of action members are supported, respectively, by supporting members in a pivotable manner about the supporting members; for example, a jack is supported by a wippen in a pivotable manner about the wippen.
For example, a shaft is fixed to an action member, and a bearing hole is formed in a supporting member; a bearing member (bushing) provided with a through hole into which the shaft is to be inserted is attached to the bearing hole; by this configuration, as a result of inserting the shaft into the through hole of the bearing member, the action member pivots about the shaft as a fulcrum, with respect to the supporting member.
Generally, as a material of this bearing member, woven felt made of wool (commonly referred to as “cloth”) is used.
However, since cloth tends to swell due to humidity, it is concerned that ease of pivoting (in other words, difficulty of pivoting) of the action member may change depending on humidity in a surrounding atmosphere where the keyboard instrument is installed.
Therefore, it has been considered to use Teflon felt (Teflon: registered trademark) which hardly swells due to humidity (i.e., which has a higher stability against humidity), compared with cloth.